Over the weekend we saw a showcase of some of the strongest teams in the ANZ Region as they competed in the ZEN League Qualifiers at ESL Australia's studios in Sydney. Four teams in Legacy eSports, Team Immunity, Dark Sided and AVANT Garde battled it out for a chance to play in the $100,000 league, with two qualifying teams earning their spots in dominant fashion.

To start things off Team Immunity had to play against the newly acquired roster of Avant Garde in a preliminary seeding match in which the winner and loser of that series would verse Legacy Esports and Dark Sided respectively.

“Knowing who you verse in a tournament is such an important factor but today we must go without”

Sync, Dark Sided CS:GO Player

With this match dictating the path to qualification, it came to both teams as a match that is just as important as any other and in the end Immunity were able to snag themselves a dominant victory 2-0 against their opponents.

With opponents now determined, it was time for Dark Sided to prove their worth against the incredibly experienced and talented roster of Avant Garde. This series meant everything to these teams as it is the qualification match to Australia's most prestigious Counter-Strike league in history.

Right out the gate Dark Sided were able to come out swinging as the young-gun of Matthew “Texta” O’Rourke cleaned up shop in fantastic fashion; true to his sporadic playstyle in nature. This performance, in conjunction with the comradery of his fellow teammates, Texta and Co. we’re able to shut out their opponent 16-4 on de_mirage.

Now moving into map two (de_cache) Avant were looking for vengeance as longtime strategist and tactical mind Lonsdale was able to rally his boys to victory 16-10 after numerous razor-thin round wins; which sometimes in Counter-Strike is all that is needed.

After taking a heavy loss, this match would prove to be Dark Sided’s ultimate test to see if they were cut out to contend against the best Counter-Strike teams the region. Heading into map three no one was quite sure what would occur between these two teams however after merely minutes the Dark Sided roster showed us exactly why they deserve to be amongst the greats; taking swift victory yet again 16-4.

Shortly after that, Team Immunity were also able to defeat their opponents and secure themselves a spot in the Zen Network League alongside Chiefs ESC, Tainted Minds and Dark Sided

If you’d like to catch our series against Avant Garde, ESL Australia have made all matches public available in which you can access here